Everyone has heard the phrase, "Appearances don't matter." I heard it from my mom, I've heard it from my teachers, I've heard it from countless relatives . . .
And it's a lie.
Before we get started, I just wanted to apologize for not getting "Emmy's Logo Here" in the last couple of weeks. I'm lazy . . . and I'm busy. Soccer has consumed almost every spare minute of my time, so the column may be in and out of the Times in the weeks to follow.
I got the idea for this particular subject, appearances, while shopping with my mom a couple of days ago (gag me). My mother was trying to find a new dress for a banquet the foundation she's working for is holding on the twelfth. I was dragged in and out of stores for hours, and I can now say she's kind of made me hate shopping. At one particular boutique, my mom was attached to the mirror, and I was studying a woman with her friend fretting over how she looked in this skirt. They spent 35 minutes just on that one kind of skirt. I counted. The woman put it on, took it off, got three different sizes, tried on those, took them off, tried the original one back on . . .
"How do I look in this?"
It was the question the woman kept asking, over and over, and I was at the point of screaming, "Why do you care so much?"
Tada.
Appearances, why do we care about them so much? Why are they so important?
I thought it would be the perfect subject for an article.
Going back to the original quote, "Appearances don't matter". What do you think about that? Maybe at one point in time, it was true, but in this day and age, appearances do matter. I'm not saying they are the most important thing, or the number one subject we should be focusing on, but saying that appearances don't matter is kind of naive, don't you think?
Appearances are directly connected with first impressions. When you see someone on the street, the first thing you notice is how they look. It's just human nature. How people look is how we judge them, how we identify them. If you just glance at someone in a grocery store, you don't stop to think, "I know her hair is weird, but she actually might be a really nice girl." You think, "Gosh, her hair is such an odd color." Like I said, human nature. Your appearance, how you look, is the first thing others will take in when they look at you, and it can make a huge difference.
I am dreading using such a common uncreative example, but let's say you're trying to get hired for a job. How you look is one of the key things to get hired. Look at Jess's "Flawed Fashion: Dress for Success" ( Article ID: 8845). She gave tips on what to wear/how to look to go to a job interview. If you show up to your interview dressed like you just rolled out of bed, no matter how smart you are or how hard you can work, do you think you'll really get hired for that job?
Your appearance can tell a lot about yourself. What you wear, your hygiene, and so on tells a lot about your personality and who you are as a person. If you don't believe me, just look at any middle school/high school in the nation. How people look is one of the biggest things that separates everyone into their own little group or clique. How you look can get a label slapped on you like that. *Snaps fingers*
Real beauty is on the inside, I completely agree with that, but that doesn't mean you should ignore what you look like on the outside. It's not the most important thing to worry about, but they do matter. Maybe . . . Maybe they shouldn't matter as much as they do. I agree with that, too. But in this society, how you look is made to be a very high priority. Just look at all the design shows, magazines . . . look at all the stores. Thousands and thousands of them trying to help you look better.
By the way, my mother did find a gorgeous dress. It's the most stunning color of red. The way she looks in it almost made the agonizing hours of shopping worth it.
Almost.
Keep true <3,
Glitsygrl
